Australian bowling prospect Pat Cummins set for return

Australian pace bowling prodigy Pat Cummins, who bagged a six-wicket haul on test debut in South Africa last year, will return to action next week after a four-month injury layoff.

The 18-year-old paceman took 6-79 in his one and only test to help Australia to victory at Wanderers last November but missed the entire domestic summer because of a bone stress injury in his foot.

Cricket Australia (CA) have made no secret of the fact that they have been erring on the side of caution in treating the youngster`s injuries and his return comes in an under-19 series also involving England, India and New Zealand in Queensland.

"Pat is at an advanced stage of his rehabilitation and we feel he will benefit from bowling in a competitive environment," CA physio Alex Kountouris said in a news release.

"He`ll be on a restricted program and is being taken to Townsville so we can continue his progression and introduce some competition time.

"He won`t play in every match or bowl his full allocation of overs, but will undertake a program that will allow us to carefully manage his involvement in the squad`s training and matches."